Faculty Affairs - Criteria for Track and Rank

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Criteria for Track and Rank:

All faculty, regardless of track, are expected to contribute to the educational, research, service, and clinical missions of the college. Appointment to tenure track and clinical and research faculty tracks requires completion of an appropriate doctoral degree (MD, PhD, DO). Determination of faculty track and rank are based on the dominant element(s) of faculty contributions to the college.

Non-Tenure Track Faculty Title Series (Typically non-salaried):

Clinical Series (PDF) - Physicians and clinical educators who contribute to training of College of Medicine – Phoenix medical students, residents and/or fellows. Teaching is the primary responsibility but some scholarly activity and/or service (program development, committee service, clinical research, development of educational tools) are expected for promotion within this track.

Research Series (PDF) - Faculty members employed by independent research institutes, other scientific institutions or the college, whose primary contribution is to the research mission of the college through collaborative research with other college faculty members. Requires contribution to the college mission in one or more of the following: scholarly activity, education or service.

Professor of Practice Series (PDF) - Professor of Practice in Medicine titles may be used for educators who are practitioners and who may not meet the requirements for other faculty members in the College of Medicine – Phoenix (e.g., tenured/tenure-eligible; clinical scholar; educator scholar) or those who hold modified faculty titles (e.g., clinical track; research track), all of whom require a MD, PhD, or DO degree. The Professor of Practice in Medicine title series recognizes a non-tenure eligible faculty member who has established himself or herself by expertise, achievements and reputation over a sustained period of time to be a distinguished professional in an area of practice or discipline. This non-tenure eligible faculty track has been developed to recognize the many practitioners and clinical educators employed outside of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix who contribute to the training of University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix medical students [residents, and/or fellows].

Traditional Title Series (Typically salaried):

Tenure Track (PDF) - Only full-time employees of the University (i.e., > .50 FTE) are eligible for this track. Requirement for scholarship (e.g., discovery, clinical or educational). Faculty members are expected to contribute to the educational, scholarship and service missions of the department. This is the only track for which tenure is an option.

Non-Tenure Track Scholar Series:

Research Scholar Track (PDF) - Faculty members whose primary contribution is to the research mission of the college. Must have achieved, or for assistant professors, demonstrated potential to achieve, independence and excellence in the initiation, direction and completion of research projects.

Clinical Scholar Track (PDF) - Faculty members whose primary contribution is to the clinical mission of the college. Must have demonstrated potential or achieved excellence in clinical teaching, provide significant service, and participation in scholarly activities. The definition of scholarly activity is broader for this track than for the tenure track, including, for example, publication of case reports.

Educator Scholar Track (PDF) - Faculty members whose primary contribution is to the educational missions of the college. While promotion in this track requires scholarship, definitions of that scholarship are broad, including such activities as program development, participation in national organizations, educational research, and development of educational tools.